Recycling Works!

Here's How

Pennsylvania Residential Recycling
Guide

WHAT IS RECYCLING?

Recycling involves the separation and
collection of materials for processing and remanufacturing into
new products, and the use of the products to complete the cycle.
Much of the aluminum, glass, paper and steel used for packaging
today is already recycled. Half the nation's aluminum cans are
made from recycled aluminum, and one-quarter of the raw fibers
used in the paper industry are from recycled paper products. Glass
and steel used in containers can be recycled over and over.

The recycling
of aluminum and steel cans, cardboard, glass, newspapers and certain
plastics is a growing industry in Pennsylvania. Already more than
140 Pennsylvania businesses are using recyclables collected
by the state's recycling programs to make new products like glass
containers, office paper, laundry detergent bottles, steel framing,
roofing, and pipes; steel sheet for cars and cans, and much more.
Recyclables kept separate from household waste are collected at
recycling programs. Collected materials are further sorted and
processed for sale to manufacturers in Pennsylvania and other
states.

Money earned from the sale of recyclable
materials can benefit the individual recycler or help communities
and companies offset operating costs for recycling. Recycling
also allows some communities to reduce waste disposal costs.

Society's energy consumption is also
reduced by recycling. For example, it requires less energy to
make a new glass bottle from a recycled one because recycled glass
melts at a lower temperature than the raw materials. Recycling
also prolongs the life of the glassmaking equipment. Similarly,
making an aluminum can from recycled aluminum uses a fraction
of the energy needed to make from bauxite ore.

WHAT ARE WE DOING ABOUT IT?

Pennsylvania
made recycling the law in July 1988 with Act 101, the Municipal
Waste Planning, Recycling and Waste Reduction Act, thus making
Pennsylvania the largest state in the nation to require recycling.
By 2006, nearly 10.2 million people in almost 1,400 communities
and all state agencies participated in the recycling effort. While
curbside recycling has been mandatory in 457 communities with
populations greater than 5,000, over 500 additional communities
have developed curbside recycling programs voluntarily. More than
420 other communities are served by municipal drop-off centers
for recyclables. Plus, over 3,000 commercial drop-off centers
provide recycling opportunities throughout the Commonwealth.

Act 101 requires landfills
and resource-recovery (waste-to-energy) operations
to establish recyclable drop-off centers accessible to the public
so that people who take their own trash to a landfill can also
recycle. All of these elements of Act 101 create a comprehensive
program that will allow everyone to participate in the recycling
and waste reduction effort.